Tesoro Tizona G2N Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review and Ratings

Editors’ Rating:

Our Verdict:
The Tizona is a “tenkeyless” mechanical keyboard that uses non-Cherry mechanical switches. It’s a strong pick over competing models only for those who will buy and use Tesoro’s matching, detachable numeric pad. Read More…

What We Liked…

Optional numeric keypad attaches to either side of keyboard, or works stand-alone

Tesoro Tizona G2N Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

Table of Contents

Introduction

You’ve got to give Tesoro some credit: This company knows how to plumb history and the classics for inspiration. Even if it's thoroughly over the top.

A few months back, we reviewed a pair of PC gaming keyboards from this up-and-coming gaming hardware maker, in its Durandal line. Durandal, Tesoro informed us in its splash copy for the keyboards, “is the sword of Charlemagne's paladin Roland. The sword is said to contain within its golden hilt one tooth of Saint Peter, blood of Saint Basil, hair of Saint Denis, and a piece of the raiment of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

Whoa. That’s a lot of spiritual freight to put on an under-$100 PC peripheral.

When Tesoro approached us about reviewing a newer entry into the line, the Tizona G2N Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, we were tempted to scurry straight to Wikipedia. We hadn’t read the famed verse about El Cid in our excursions through world literature over the years, but Tesoro was quick to point out that Tizona, the “burning blade,” was “the sword carried by El Cid, which was used to fight the Moors in Spain. It is now one of Spain's most cherished relics.”

The descendants of those conquered by El Cid? Well, we guess Tesoro has written off that market. But we’re willing to cut the Tizona some slack. This is an interesting spin on a mechanical gaming keyboard, with a modular design. As it ships, the Tizona G2N is a compact “tenkeyless” board like you see here at left. "Tenkeyless" is recently coined keyboard-maker lingo for a keyboard without a numeric keypad.

Of course, the reason you pay the bucks for a mechanical keyboard is because you want the specific feel and exceptional durability of mechanical key switches, and they are not cheap. It’s tough to find any mechanical keyboard new—full-size or tenkeyless—for much less than $70. And until recently, most mechanical boards used the industry standard in key switches, the MX Series from Cherry Industrial, which are built to take a serious pounding—switches designed to endure millions, not thousands, of strokes. When you buy one of these boards, you keep it for a long time, so you want it to be a more considered purchase than your average $20 beater from Staples.

The Tizona, however, is one of a newer breed of mechanical keyboards emerging here in 2014. These have a Cherry-switch-like feel but do not actually use Cherry-made switches. In the case of the Tizona, these switches come from switch maker Kailh, another veteran key switch maker. At least in the sample we tested, they do indeed feel very Cherry, but Kailh doesn't have quite the long-term track record in consumer keyboards that Cherry does. (Some other mechanical boards use switches from different suppliers still, about which we know even less.) Whereas before, Cherry was the default switch brand in most mechanical keyboards, the market is fragmenting. In short, if a mechanical keyboard now doesn't specify that it uses Cherry switches, it probably doesn't have them.

Cherry or Kailh regardless, though, the Tizona is a nice pick for gamers or heavy typists who are pressed for space, and it’s of special interest to lefties. The keyboard has a complementary numeric keypad, the Tizona G2N-P, which is a $30 optional add-on. It can snap onto the main Tizona G2N keyboard, on either the left side or the right side of the body, as you can see here...

That way, you can leave off the numpad when it’s not wanted (or if you want to carry just the main part of the keyboard around, say to a LAN party), and attach it when you see fit. You can stick it on the right in its usual place for productivity work, or you can hook it up and use it as a big left-side mega-panel of shortcut keys to complement your WASD cluster. You can even buy two of the numeric pads and snap one on each side.

That’s some cool flexibility. But is it worth the asking price of around $70 to $80 for the main keyboard and $30 for the numpad? Considering that you can get full-size Cherry-based boards starting at around $80, and that the Tizona lacks illuminated keys, we can only recommend the Tizona set if you're sure you’ll use the modular-keypad functionality. If not, you’re better off with a full-size mechanical with backlighting, such as the Thermaltake Poseidon Z or Rosewill Helios, for about $80 to $90. But for those who want the keypad flexibility, this is an uncommon board.

Table of Contents

Tesoro Tizona G2N Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

Our Verdict:
The Tizona is a “tenkeyless” mechanical keyboard that uses non-Cherry mechanical switches. It’s a strong pick over competing models only for those who will buy and use Tesoro’s matching, detachable numeric pad.

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